Age and Productivity in Work Teams: Evidence from the Assembly Line ∗

We explore a unique data set that combines data on errors occuring in the manufac- turing process of a large car manufacturer with detailed information on the personal characteristics of workers responsible for the errors. We are able to test the prevalent hypothesis regarding the effect of teams' age structure on their performance: Good performance requires a mix of young (fit, flexible) and old (experienced) workers. We find strong evidence against this hypothesis. JEL codes: J24, J14, D24

[1]  Niels Westergaard-Nielsen,et al.  Age Structure of the Workforce and Firm Performance , 2005, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[2]  P. Aubert,et al.  La productivité des salariés âgés : une tentative d'estimation , 2003 .

[3]  D. Hirshleifer,et al.  Does Investment Skill Decline due to Cognitive Aging or Improve with Experience , 2006 .

[4]  E. Lazear.  Why Is There Mandatory Retirement? , 1979, Journal of Political Economy.

[5]  G. Loewenstein,et al.  Do Workers Prefer Increasing Wage Profiles? , 1991, Journal of Labor Economics.

[6]  Laurence J. Kotlikoff,et al.  Working Paper 9119 ESTIMATING A FIRM ' S AGE-PRODUCTIVITY PROFILE USING THE PRESENT VALUE OF WORKERS ' EARNINGS , 1992 .

[7]  David W. Galenson.  The Greatest Artists of the Twentieth Century , 2005 .

[8]  Bruce A. Weinberg,et al.  Age and the Quality of Work: The Case of Modern American Painters , 1999, Journal of Political Economy.

[9]  Alexia Prskawetz,et al.  The impact of population ageing on innovation and productivity growth in Europe , 2005 .

[10]  Julia Lane,et al.  Productivity Differences across Employers: The Roles of Employer Size, Age, and Human Capital , 1999 .

[11]  David A. Wise,et al.  Employee Retirement and a Firm's Pension Plan , 1987 .

[12]  J. Hunter,et al.  Validity and Utility of Alternative Predictors of Job Performance , 1984 .

[13]  R. Fair.  How Fast Do Old Men Slow Down? , 1991 .

[14]  John Laitner,et al.  Technological Progress and Worker Productivity at Different Ages , 2005 .

[15]  Edward P. Lazear,et al.  Agency, Earnings Profiles, Productivity, and Hours Restrictions , 1981 .

[16]  Robert M. Hutchens,et al.  Wages, seniority, and the demand for rising consumption profiles , 1993 .

[17]  D. Neumark,et al.  Are Earnings Profiles Steeper Than Productivity Profiles? Evidence from Israeli Firm-Level Data , 1995 .

[18]  Wayne F. Cascio,et al.  Cumulative evidence of the relationship between employee age and job performance. , 1989 .

[19]  M. Weiss,et al.  Altern und Produktivität : Zum Stand der Forschung , 2006 .

[20]  Bruce A. Weinberg,et al.  Creating Modern Art: The Changing Careers of Painters in France from Impressionism to Cubism , 2001 .

[21]  V. Skirbekk,et al.  Age and Individual Productivity: A Literature Survey , 2003 .

[22]  M. Maliranta,et al.  Technology, Labour Characteristics and Wage-Productivity Gaps , 2005 .